Defence Minister meets families of pilots killed in IAF plane crash

Ghaziabad, Feb 5 (IANS) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met the families of the two pilots killed in the Indian Air Force (IAF) plane crash in Bengaluru on February 1.

Squadron Leaders Samir Abrol and Siddhartha Negi died after a newly-upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter crashed at the HAL airport.

Sitharaman reached Ghaziabad at around 2.30 p.m. to console the family members of Abrol. Additional District Magistrate (City) Himanshu Gautam said the Defence Minister was at the Abrols’ residence at Gandhi Nagar for approximately 20 minutes.

She consoled the parents and the wife of the deceased pilot before heading for New Delhi, the officer said.

Earlier in the day, the Defence Minister met Squadron Leader Negi’s family in Dehradun.

The last rites of Abrol were held with full state honours here on Sunday. The body of Abrol was brought to his house on Saturday. It was then taken to the Hindon cremation ground where Union Minister General VK Singh (retd.), who is also the local MP, paid tributes. Uttar Pradesh Minister and local MLA Atul Garg and other politicians were also present.